Am I going to suggest that money can only be hard won by perilous investments and chancy ventures? No, I’m not. In that case, am I suggesting caution and that you should carefully hang on to every penny? No, I’m not advocating that either.

What I am suggesting is that it’s entirely up to you what level of risk you feel happy with – it’s no good me telling you what that level should be. You have to decide your own attitude to and appetite for risk. Personally I love the idea of sailing close to the wind financially. However, my attitude is definitely verging on the cautious side so I don’t take the risk. I find the risky schemes where you could blow the lot or make a fortune hold some appeal but I don’t indulge my whims. I have young children and they come first.

Once you have decided your attitude to risk it makes your planning easier. It allows you to tailor how you intend becoming prosperous. Hare or tortoise I guess.

Obviously your attitude will vary depending on the project. Things to take into consideration are:

• Your age. We cope better with risk the younger we are.
• Family commitments. If, like me, you have young children it does make you more cautious. If they’ve all left home, you might be prepared to push it a bit further.
• Income and/or assets. You need to work out the percentage of your wealth you are prepared to risk. The more you’ve got, the smaller the risk might be – unless you are prepared to risk the lot of course.

If you are going to take risks, then do try to offset them. Take out insurance if you like. Also:

• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket (more about this later).
• Consider how much stress and excitement you can handle.
• Look at the timing – long term against quick returns.
• Think about how much you can afford to risk. Worst-case scenario stuff.
• Judge how much information you have. Too little increases risk.

The other thing to ponder is how you respond to the risks of life. Life in itself is risky and nothing is certain. How do you cope when things go wrong? Are you positive, dynamic, enthusiastic and up? Or do you get all gloomy and depressed and feel the glass is half empty? Know yourself and know how you cope and how you respond to changes. And remember that risk doesn’t mean bad. It means you don’t know how it will all turn out.